The anxiety of our people is palpable. The growing fear among the populace makes nonsense of any plan conceived for the development of our God-given space.
It is my fervent hope that this engagement will not be limited to the current challenge which threatens to wreck our collective peace. I look forward to future interactions on matters as important and affective as this one which compels this assembly. There is no gainsaying the obvious; the issue of socio-economic integration in the region must be taken seriously for any aspiration towards development to be meaningful. No remarkable progress can be achieved amidst chaos. No state in the region can achieve greatness in isolation.
There can be no argument on the assertion that insecurity has become a major issue in the polity today. There is virtually no part of the country which is spared at the moment. All the six geo-political zones experience one form of crisis or the other.
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Everybody is concerned about the ease with which these fiendish characters operate. Some victims have been unlucky, they paid the supreme price. Others live with bodily scars and bruised psyche. The morale of our people had never been this low. Our security agencies appear overwhelmed by the incessant and sustained attacks on our people in different parts of the country. Our roads are no longer safe. Our schools operate under palpable fear. School children are now abducted for ransom. Commuters are no longer safe on our roads. This aberrant phenomenon seems blind to class, religion and ethnicity. Nobody is spared. All of us have become victims, suddenly.
The Ondo State government, recognising the gravity of the current challenges, held a security summit early this year. The enormity of these problems made the convocation of the event exigent. There was unanimity in the belief that the location of our state explains the seeming vulnerability of both the government and its people. The assemblage of security experts, personnel and representatives of agencies agreed on the pathway towards the resolution of the current crisis.
Ondo State occupies a very strategic location in the country. Her littoral shores are the longest and, arguably, the deepest. Her northern borders lead to the North Central and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The state is the gateway to the South-West. She shares common borders with Kogi, Edo, Osun and Ogun States. The state is easily accessible from Lagos State by the Lagoon and Atlantic.
The Ondo State Security Summit produced a security policy document for the state. This document considers the current situation and suggests ways through which the problems can be tackled. The summit identified high level of insecurity, wide gaps in available security architecture, constraints occasioned by these challenges, future institutional arrangements, sustainable structure and funding. It also came up with both medium security and safety strategic plans.
Our administration has exhibited sufficient political will which leaves no one in doubt of its readiness to confront the challenges headlong. This security policy document (SPD) promises to address these problems realistically.
The document contains five key security policy objectives which the government proposes to boost public confidence. These are enunciated as follows:
Ensuring Public Safety: providing for, and mitigating risks to, the safety of citizens and communities; Preserving Domestic peace and safety: protecting the physical security of residents and their properties; Protecting Public Assets: this is both physical and virtual. The citizens are allowed to communicate, trade and engage in socio-economic activities without any fear of molestation from any quarters; Sustaining economic prosperity: maintaining and advancing the economic well-being of individuals, families, business and communities; and Maintaining democratic institutions and national values: preventing activities aimed at undermining or overturning government institutions, principles and values that underpin the society.
The Ondo State government has adopted a holistic and integrated strategic approach to manage security risk. We will be relying on the 4Rs to combat the menace. These are: 1. Reduction: this administration believes in the drastic reduction in crime rate through identification and analysis of long term and short term risks with a view to eliminating them. 2. Readiness: developing operational systems and capabilities to prevent crimes. 3. Response: moving swiftly to nip in the bud any significant event before, during and/or directly after occurrence. 4. Recovery: using coordinated efforts and processes to engender immediate, medium-term and long term prevention of crimes.
In achieving these lofty aims, heavy reliance will be placed on collaboration with certain government agencies which deal with crime and delinquency prevention. These include: Law Enforcement and Investigations; Criminal Prosecution; Justice Administration; Legal Defence, Victims and Witness Protection Prisons and Offender-Correction.
Need for a proper coordination of the activities of all formal and informal security groups in the state. Free flow of information regarding crime from members of the public as encouraged by the state. Need for a toll-free line for crime reporting in the state. Need for joint border patrols with neighbouring states. Above all, the need for inter-agency cooperation and collaboration.
We must ensure that we fill the gaps in legislation to sanction deviance promptly, firmly and comprehensively.
The role of the people is vital in the implementation of any conceived ideas. The people must be informed adequately on the strategic importance of collaboration with the agencies of the state.
The South-Western States must ensure that their strategies are harmonized to achieve a common purpose. We cannot afford to work in isolation at this moment. We must cast aside all partisan considerations in the interest of our people. Our ultimate aim must be the socio-economic integration of the Region which reflects our collective aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous environment.
Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) is the governor of Ondo State and the chairman, South West Governors’ Forum.
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